The harvested components are set to be sold in the secondary parts market, while the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines will be available for lease.
The company claims it still sees strong demand for A380 parts. "With deliveries of Boeing’s 777X platform delayed until at least 2026, there is an increasing reliance on the A380 to fill the need for large, long-haul aircraft," said Tommy Hughes, the chief executive officer of VAS Aero Services.
The teardown of the three aircraft will be conducted in collaboration with Tarmac Aerosave.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, D-AIME, D-AIMF, and EI-HKC have been stored since 2020. The ex-Lufthansa A380-800s were produced in 2010 and are currently stored at Teruel. The aircraft previously used by Malaysia Airlines rolled out in 2012 and is parked at Lourdes/Tarbes.
Airbus produced 254 A380-800s, but only 182 remain in service. The biggest operator of the quadjet is Emirates, which currently operates 118 of the aircraft.
In total, Lufthansa operated fourteen A380-800s but only eight are active at the moment. Malaysia Airlines fully retired its A380 fleet, which consisted of six aircraft, by 2022.
Following-up on our article of 28 June 2022, we can now report that Lufthansa has taken a first Airbus A380 out of storage. The aircraft, D-AIMK (146), was ferried from Teruel in Spain to Frankfurt on 2 December 2022. Here it will receive first maintenance before being ferried to Manila for heavy maintenance. It's planned to have the aircraft back in service at the start of the 2023 summer season in March.
The ferry-flight was conducted with its gear down as Lufthansa couldn't test if the gear would retract as normal at Teruel.
Lufthansa is reactivating the type as it's facing a big increase in post-Covid customer demand and its new Boeing B777-9s are delayed. The airline has eight remaining A380s in the fleet and it's expected that up to six will be reactivated. The plan is to operate the aircraft mainly out of Munich.
Airbus A330 Fuselage To Be Used As Stage At Spanish Music Festival
A week ago, residents of North-East Spain may have noticed the fuselage of an Airbus A330 traveling past their window. The scrapped aircraft was being transported from Teruel to the desert area of Fraga, where the Monegros Desert Festival will be held next year.
Last week an Airbus A330 fuselage section made the 230km journey from Teruel to the Monegros Desert. Photo: Monegros Desert Festival via Facebook
We’ve seen some exciting uses for retired planes. From holiday accommodation to reefs and coffee shops, you’d think somebody had already tried everything possible. Now, a Spanish music festival is turning a former Airbus A330 into a stage for up to 1,000 people as it welcomes guests back from a pandemic break.
A stage for 1,000 people
A week ago, a scrapped Airbus A330 left Teruel, widely known for its aircraft storage facility, to take the first step in its post aviation life. The plane was taken to a field in the Monegros Desert, not far from the town of Candasnos.
According to Business Insider, the journey took 230km (143 miles), mostly traveling along the A-23 highway. Once the aircraft arrived at the festival ground, cranes hoisted it off the truck and into its resting place, where it joined previously delivered wing sections. Commenting on its plans via Instagram, the festival said,
“We can finally announce that MDF & 8.6 Beer bought an AIRBUS Plane for Monegros Festival 2022 and we will transform it into a secret club for 1.000 people! [This is] by far the craziest project we have done…many months to make another dream come true, endless meetings with the council and government, last minute decisions.”
The fuselage is being transported in three sections due to its size. Photo: Monegros Desert Festival via Facebook
Which aircraft is being used?
It’s impossible to confirm which aircraft is being turned into a festival stage, but we have a couple of clues to help us narrow it down, hopefully. According to data from ch-aviation.com, there are 30 Airbus A330 aircraft at Teruel, ranging in age from a four-year-old A330neo test aircraft to a 27-year-old former Cathay Dragon jet.
According to the data, only two of these 30 aircraft have actually been scrapped, with the remainder in storage. The two scrapped aircraft both came from Air Italy, flying with Qatar Airways before this.
The first of these aircraft is MSN 511, an 18.22-year-old A330 that took its first flight in January 2003. The plane was registered as A7-ACC with Qatar Airways and then EI-GGO with Air Italy. As of February 28th, it had completed 78,328 flight hours over 14,829 flight cycles.
The second of these aircraft is MSN 571, a 17.09-year-old A330 that took its first flight in March 2004. This plane was registered as A7-ACE when delivered to Qatar Airways and subsequently reregistered as EI-GFX with Air Italy. As of February 28th, this jet had flown for 73,976 hours across 13,624 cycles.
Air Italy’s Airbus A330 aircraft also had a grey belly. Photo: Getty Images
The second clue that it may be a former Air Italy plane is the paint scheme on the aircraft. While the area where the Air Itlay logo would’ve been is painted grey, the base of the aircraft is also painted grey in a pattern that matches the former Air Itlay livery. It would make sense to cover the operator’s logo, but painting the base grey for an aircraft with this use seems unpractical.
1st British Airways A380s Arrive At Spanish Aircraft Graveyard
The stored Airbus A380 fleet at Teruel in Spain has just become more diverse as it welcomes the British Airways A380. While the BA A380 fleet has called Chateauroux home for the past half a year, things are changing as the fleet relocates to Spain.
2020 will go down as a terrible year for the Airbus A380 as a type. Currently, just a handful of the aircraft are flying for carriers such as Emirates and China Southern. Simultaneously, the majority of the global fleet remains grounded due to the massive decrease in passenger numbers globally.
G-XLEA & G-XLEB relocate
In its second-half results, IAG confirmed that it would be ‘temporarily grounding four A380s‘ as part of its fleet resizing strategy. However, the entire fleet remained in Chateauroux, occasionally visiting Heathrow for maintenance. Last week, Simple Flying reported that the airline was to move some of its A380 fleet to Madrid Barajas Airport, home of its sister airline Iberia.
Today two more aircraft flew down to Spain. However, rather than heading to Madrid, they flew slightly further east to Teruel, a Spanish aircraft graveyard. G-XLEA, BA’s first Airbus A380, went first. The plane departed from London Heathrow at 08:58. Having flown for one hour and 40 minutes, it landed in Teruel at 11:38.
What else is at Teruel?
Many people wouldn’t have been able to point out Teruel on a map before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since passenger demand tanked, and airlines needed cheap storage for large planes, it has come into its element.
The British Airways A380s will undoubtedly have some aircraft to relate to during their extended stay on the ground. For starters, towards the start of the crisis, British Airways ferried five Boeing 747s to the facility. At the time, this was for storage. However, it has since been confirmed the 747s won’t return to the fleet.
Teruel is home to tens of grounded aircraft as the crisis drags on. Photo: Getty Images
However, the facility is also now home to several other Airbus A380s. Firstly, two Airbus A380s from Air France now call the facility home. Given that the airline has retired the type completely, these likely won’t fly again. However, Lufthansa has also dispatched seven of its Airbus A380s to the site. At least six of these won’t return to service, although the seventh likely won’t either.
G-XLEA has an age of eight years, while G-XLEB is just 7.8 years old. Given their young age, one would hope that British Airways doesn’t end up scrapping them. However, as the oldest aircraft in the fleet, these two would make sense if any have to go.
South African Airways Sends 2 A350s To Spanish Aircraft Graveyard
South African Airways has sent two of its Airbus A350s to a Spanish aircraft graveyard. The two A350s were leased from Avolon, joining the fleet last November, having previously flown for Hainan Airlines. According to data from Planespotters.net, both aircraft are no longer part of the SAA fleet.
Two South African Airways Airbus A350s have been sent to a long term storage facility. Photo: South African Airways
It has been an interesting year for South African Airways. The airline was already struggling before the current pandemic. In January, the airline canceled many services to conserve cash. The airline was placed into business rescue proceedings in early December, and just yesterday, Simple Flying reported that the airline’s rescue plan has now been approved.
A350s to Teruel
South African Airways has four Airbus A350s. Two were leased from Avolon, with the other two being hired from Air Mauritius. Air Mauritius is currently in voluntary administration. The two from Avolon have now been ferried to Teruel, a Spanish aircraft graveyard towards the north-east of the country.
ZS-SDD was the first A350 to make the voyage north to Spain. The aircraft departed Johannesburg at 23:30 on July 10th. It flew for 9 hours and 39 minutes, cruising at a height of 43,000 feet, before touching down in Teruel at 09:47 the next morning.
ZS-SDC followed its sister up to Teruel last night. The aircraft departed Johannesburg slightly later at 00:38 this morning. It touched down in Teruel at 10:13 after an ever so slightly shorter 9-hour and 35-minute flight. The plane flew between 40,000 and 41,000 feet for the duration of the cruise.
These two aircraft have now been returned to the lessor and transferred to long term storage in Spain. It is unclear exactly how long these aircraft will remain there at the present point in time. Given the current situation, demand may not exist for them right away, but it will surely return as more flights return to the skies.
For the time being, only one other South African Airways aircraft has been flown to Teruel, an A330 registered as ZS-SXU. However, while they may be the only A350s at the facility, they are far from the only aircraft.
Teruel, Spain - Lufthansa ferried the last Airbus A380 with registration D-AIMB to the Spanish Airport Teruel for long-term storage.
It is uncertain what fate awaits the seven Lufthansa A380s stored under the scorching Spanish sun. Lufthansa wants to cut the number of A380s in the fleet 14 to a maximum of eight planes.
The retired superjumbos should go back to the owners. Lufthansa is currently silent about which planes will leave the fleet. The German flag carrier also stored the entire A340-600 in addition to its A380 there.
The dry climate in northeastern Spain provides reliable protection against corrosion.
